Give women a chance in the parliament!

Dear Mr. Modi,

Lets skip the banal repetition of Article 325 and 326 of the constitution ensuring political equality among men and women and come to the crux of the matter -

Mr. Modi, you have won the hearts of millions of Indians. Your relentless untiring efforts towards development of India are open for the whole world to see. You have made your presence feel throughout the world. You have done something only few in the political arena have achieved – glued people all around the world to their television sets to see an Indian politician speak.

However there remains a glaring gap in our administration. There is an astringent inequality in the parliamentary seats. There is still ambivalence towards the long pending women reservation in the Indian government. The parliament in India represents a meagre 11% of women. Frequent initiatives to introduce a policy of reserved seats in the state legislatives and the parliament have repeatedly failed and the matter left dormant without much discussion.

The 16th Lok Sabha, i.e. the current one has seen the highest number of women MP’s-61. There has never been a better opputunity to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill. It is only fair to ensure atleast 33% parliamentary seats for a section of the country that constituted almost 50% of the voters in the 2014 elections. Indeed the female voter turnout was higher than the male voter turnout in more than 16 states & Union Territories. For this huge effort, we deserve the bill to get through.

The crass reaction and impunity of bureaucrats to violation of women rights and sexual assualts are galling to say the least. Gross misrepresentation of women in media adds further to lowering the status of women in the country.

Mr. Modi, you have been called a ‘one man army’ by many. You have done some incredible things since your inception as Prime Minister. We believe you can stir up this dormant situation and bring it to a happy conclusion.

In the end we appeal to your humanity – we hope you can give us a voice. Help us be the change you want India to be.

Sincerely,

Urvashi Tewari